20TH CENTURY GOES Y2K - PLUS ONE.

Byline: Chris J. Parker Business Editor

20th Century Industries Inc. has solved its unique Y2K problem: Beginning Jan. 1, the Woodland Hills-based insurer will be known as 21st Century Insurance Group.

Not exactly a ground-breaking change, but what do you expect from one of the largest insurers on the West Coast? Insurance companies don't like taking chances.

``Since we've done so much brand advertising with 20th Century, changing the name (dramatically) would have made it difficult for people to reconcile the new name with the company,'' said Joyce Prager, the company's community affairs director.

The new name will be introduced at a ceremony today that'll include the unveiling of the company's float for this winter's Tournament of Roses parade. Nearly 1,000 company employees are expected to attend, along with the Rose Court and the Canoga Park High School marching band.

Officials at 20th, er, 21st Century have been working on their name for several years. Even shareholders have quizzed management about it during the company's last few annual meetings.

Prager said the company considered other names, including some that would stray from the ``century'' theme. In the end, 21st Century seemed as inevitable as, well, the coming millennium.

``It makes sense to go to 21st Century,'' she said. ``It seemed the simplest way.''

While the company name is changing, the logo - a Roman column on a brown, house-shaped field - remains the same.

``The change is subtle but very opportune,'' said retail marketing consultant Frederick Marx of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. ``It's almost like an address change from the 25th to the 23rd floor. At a time when there's so much focus on technology, you want to have your name be correct so you certainly want to be known as 21st Century.

``And they may also get some news play, so they're getting a nice freebie out it.''

The new name will be prominently displayed on its Rose Parade float, a 55-foot-long vehicle named, ``Visions of Wisdom and Imagination.'' Approximately 1,000 company employees and their families will decorate the float.

20th Century, founded in 1958, is the ninth-largest publicly traded auto insurance company in the United States. As of Sept. 30, it insured 1.2 million cars in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

On Sept. 15, the company began offering home insurance in California five years after the Northridge Earthquake nearly bankrupt the company. It is now 51 percent controlled by American International Group Inc., the nation's second-largest financial company.

20th Century has 2,400 employees at 26 offices across five states. Approximately 1,100 employees work at its Woodland Hills headquarters and another 530 work at offices nearby.

Daily News Staff Writer Dave McNary contributed to this story.